The Horrors of Hockey
by aikakone
Summary: It was just supposed to be Saturday hockey. Who knew that the best way to date Jo Martinez was to tell her she could hit people?


It wasn't the first time he stood in front of Jo's red door knocking for her to let him in, but it was the first time Lucas had been there by himself. Lucas felt as awkward waiting for her as he did when he had gone to pick up his prom date. He had bungled the expensive corsage and stabbed her with the pin. They had at least made it to the dance, though, before she ditched him to hang out with the girls while he hovered by the punch bowl.

"Lucas, what are you doing here?" Jo blessedly interrupted his thoughts' stumble down memory lane.

He shook out of his reverie to tell her, "I promise I'm here for a legitimate and not creepy reason."

Lucas said it with a smile and hoped she'd remember it was the first thing he said at her door when he had been there with Henry—the person they both missed dearly. After Abe died suddenly, Henry left New York because he couldn't handle being there without the older man. Lucas, Jo and Hanson asked him to stay, but Dr. Morgan was resolved to be anywhere else but there.

"You're not creepy, but why are you here?" Jo asked, helping his wandering mind focus.

He sighed and patted his messenger bag. "I have something for you from the doc. I was cleaning out his office, and I found it in his desk with your name on it. I assume he would want me to give it to you."

"Oh," Jo said with clear surprise. She took a step back from the door and invited him inside her brownstone.

Lucas walked in cautiously, bending on reflex so his head wouldn't hit the lintel of the door. He wasn't exactly one of the NBA, but he'd been teased about his tall and skinny body in high school. The usual insult was that he looked like a zipper from the side when he stuck his tongue out. The experience left him with certain ticks.

Jo gestured for him to sit on the sofa while she took a wingback chair and waited.

He pulled out a bottle of Henry's favorite vintages, and handed it to Jo with the ceremony of a doctor handing new parents their first born child.

"Thank you," she said, as she put it down on the coffee table without enthusiasm.

"I miss him," Lucas said as he stared at the bottle that represented Henry Morgan.

"Yeah," Jo sniffled. "Me, too."

She shot Lucas a glare he interpreted as a command not to repeat her almost crying to anyone, and he nodded back to her. Jo then hugged her arms around herself and looked forlorn.

Lucas looked at his watch and stood up. "I really should go. I don't want to take up too much of your time."

Jo stood up when he did, and he opened his arms to give her a hug. In most other situations, he would not have tried to offer the hardened detective any comfort, but it seemed right after he'd delivered Henry's parting gift. She surprised Lucas further by accepting the hug and giving one right back.

"So where are you going?" Jo asked when they stepped apart. She wiped at her eyes again and winced at him as she showed human emotion.

"I'm meeting the guys at the rink. We have a regular hockey game," he said.

"I didn't know you played," Jo said, tilting her head the way she did when she was interested in something.

"I might surprise you sometime," Lucas said back to her.

"I don't see your skates with you, and somehow I can't imagine you playing hockey," she said.

He eye rolled and then admitted, "Okay, look. I took figure skating as a kid with my sister until I got too tall. I am the best skater on the ice but that's not exactly what hockey's about."

Jo smirked at his mention that he'd been in figure skating. Lucas liked seeing her regular humor return for a brief moment. Then the perfect idea filled his head so all the words came tumbling out.

"Do you want to come with me? That is, if you don't have plans. We can get some skates at the rink."

"You mean like bowling shoes?" she asked, her nose wrinkling in distaste.

"You can hit people," he said. As invitations for fun activities went, it was not his most convincing argument, especially not when Jo shut the door between them.

It was not the first time Lucas had flamed out with a beautiful woman, so he sighed and walked down her steps toward the nearest subway station. The first time he had seen Jo in the Medical Examiner's office, he had thought she was gorgeous. He had quickly filed her in the unobtainable category because she had been married and then widowed. Sometimes he remembered how pretty she was, though, and it made his brain momentarily disconnect.

A few minutes later, Jo ran up to Lucas and practiced her hitting by slapping him on the arm. "Why didn't you wait for me?"

"Usually when a woman closes the door in my face, it means she's not interested. I learned a long time ago to take the hint," he said sheepishly.

Jo stared at him in bewilderment. "I was just getting my things. I'm coming with you."

"Great!" Lucas said with a smile he could feel taking over his entire face.

* * *

Jo could not ice skate very well at all. She told Lucas she thought it would be like roller skating, but it was different enough that she struggled with it at first. She was definitely aggressive on the ice, though, and that was the perfect attitude for hockey.

At the end of the afternoon, she was smiling beatifically as she removed her rented skates. "I might have to do this more often. I had fun."

"There are beginner classes and women's teams. I play on most Saturdays," he said, feeling as if he was hopelessly babbling as he invited her into this part of his world.

"I'll come with you," she declared.

"If you like. As long as you're not working a case," he said.

"Yup. There is that," Jo replied, her face clouding with sadness.

Lucas could almost feel the Henry-shaped absence near them. They both missed him, and it was nice to share that sense of loss with someone else. It didn't even require words, just sympathy and mutual understanding.

"I'd offer to walk you back to the subway, but I think it's me who needs protecting," he teased her good-naturedly.

Jo smiled softly to herself before suggesting, "Do you want to come back to my place? Have a drink from that bottle of Henry's?"

Several excuses sprang mind. It was out of his way to go back home with her. He had a pile of laundry with his work uniforms waiting to wash, and his new blu-rays that weren't going to watch themselves. All of that could be postponed for a friend in need.

"Sure. I'd like that," Lucas said.

* * *

Later at Jo's house after a few drinks peppered with laughter and sad smiles, Lucas had Jo's feet in his lap.

"No, I can take care of this," he said as he rubbed her feet. "You weren't wearing the right kind of socks. If you plan on really playing hockey, you need your own skates. Rookie mistakes."

Groaning in pain, Jo said, "It's been a long time since I've been called a rookie. I don't think I like it. So tell me more about figure skating. Did you compete?"

Lucas stopped rubbing her feet as he flushed in embarrassment, and Jo toed him to continue. "Yes, I competed. I have my awards in a case. I have a personal archive of other things I've done, like my projects from film school. My family has always been big about celebrating our achievements."

He frowned as he thought of it. It would be nice to share those things with someone who wanted to know about them. Sometimes making a human connection was so damned hard. In his frustration with that, he aggressively rubbed at a knot in Jo's sole, but she sat up, withdrawing her foot with her as she went.

"It's late, Lucas. Unless you're staying over, it's probably time for you to catch your train," Jo said, punctuating what she said with a yawn.

"Right," he said as he visually checked the contents of his messenger bag to make sure he had everything.

"Hey," Jo said as she leaned into him and put her hand on his knee. "Thanks for spending the day with me. It was nice."

"You're welcome," Lucas said, turning his head to look at her.

He had not realized her face was so close to his. She was right in his personal zone with her body heat radiating out to his skin. They had shared a lot today, more than they had at other times. When she seemed to learn toward him, Lucas leaned toward Jo, and kissed her.

It wasn't a dramatic kiss or one from the fairy tales that would wake a sleeping princess. It was soft and a little unexpected. It also shattered that fuzzy comfortable feeling between them.

Jo looked at him in evident surprise, and Lucas wondered if he'd temporarily lost his mind. He stood up quickly and banged his knee on the coffee table.

"I'd better go," he said as he made a hasty retreat toward the door. "Bye, Jo."

On the train ride home, Lucas wondered if he should have apologized to her for kissing her or if he could get away with pretending it never happened.

* * *

The next time Jo saw Lucas, he was with Dr. Washington at a crime scene. Washington was trying to be as efficient as usual without any of Henry's kind of insane theatrics. Lucas made the mistake of observing and asking questions, much to the senior ME's annoyance. It was a repeat of many crime scenes before, and Jo shook her head in disappointment at her colleagues.

"Lucas," she called out. "Could I talk to you for a moment?"

She pointed to the side of the crime scene, and he walked with her away from both the body and Dr. Washington.

"Is this about that kiss?" he asked with a wince. "I'm sorry! It was the heat of the moment, and…"

"No, it's not about that," she said with bemusement. "I am a little offended you're sorry you kissed me—"

"I'm not!" he rushed to interrupt. "I just wasn't sure you wanted it, and I thought it might make things weird. Kind of like now, actually."

He fidgeted while he waited for her reaction.

"Don't let it bother you. I wanted to talk some more about hockey actually. I meant it when I said I had a good time. I decided to sign up for skating lessons, and I'm going to the sporting goods store tomorrow to buy some skates," she said with a proud smile.

"That's great! Do you want me to come along?" he asked, all traces of his previous uncertainty gone.

Jo answered him with a warm smile. "Sure. If you can make it, let's do it! The way Washington works, you'll probably be done on time."

"Yeah," he answered. "Gives me more time to do other stuff after work, I guess."

"Like what?" Jo asked as she walked them back to the body.

"Just a creative project I'm working on. Nothing big," he said with a dismissive wave.

"Okay, tomorrow. Skates!" Jo said, pointing both her index fingers at him. "And one more thing, Lucas. Don't let Washington get you down. You're good at your job."

"Thanks," he said to her, smiling wide at her expression of confidence.

* * *

Jo and Lucas quickly fell into a pattern of Saturday skating and hockey practice. Usually they followed it with drinks or meals. He started sharing some of his geeky interests with her after testing to make sure she wouldn't make fun of him for it.

One of the interests he showed her was a comic book that he and two friends put together. Lucas had the story credit, and the others did pencils and coloring. Jo was much more patient with it than she had been for that case she had worked with Henry. Oddly, he hadn't shared any of his films with her even when she had specifically asked to see one.

"Why don't you want to show them to me?" Jo demanded of his student films. "When Henry was working with us, you wanted to show _him_."

"That's different," Lucas said. "I'm not sure you'd like them."

Jo teased him with a wink. "From what I understand, no one likes student films. It's just the principle of the thing."

* * *

Jo hadn't really thought of all the time she had been spending regularly with Lucas until Hanson was asked her about it while they were on a stakeout.

"What's going on with you and Lucas? I know you started to have feelings for Henry. Now that he's gone, is he just a convenient substitute for the Doc?" He had that don't lie to me look on his face.

"We're playing hockey," she said indignantly. "That's all."

"I don't want you to get hurt again, and he's a good guy. Don't you dare tell him I said that," he added sternly, his eyes sweeping the scene before them.

"I wouldn't dream of it," she quipped as she watched out for their suspect. "As for getting hurt, I do have some bruises from hockey, but I earned all of them."

Jo was very proud of herself, and Hanson snorted at her enthusiasm.

* * *

After Jo's talk with Mike about how much time she was spending with Lucas, she started to evaluate their relationship more critically. It was just something that happened so effortlessly, and she genuinely liked being with him. It was a very pleasant surprise to realize.

The odd thing was that once she figured out she was interested, Lucas seemed to turn cold on her. He spent less time on Saturdays with her, and any of her overtures for other casual company were refused.

"What's going on, Lucas?" she asked with annoyance.

"I just have this thing I'm working on. It's kind of important, and I don't want to jinx myself," he said.

"Is it illegal?" she asked.

"Not in most countries," he answered with a lopsided grin, but he didn't share anything else about his secret project.

Jo Martinez was a particularly good detective. His evasiveness only made her more determined to find out just what he was hiding. Her opportunity came several weeks later when she was wrapping up some business with Dr. Washington in the morgue.

"So will I see you for hockey again on Saturday?" she asked him, studying his face closely.

"No, I'm doing something in the Village," he said evasively turning away from her.

"What is it?" Jo asked.

"It's just a film thing. No big deal," Lucas answered and scurried away from her like a small boy running away from a girl with cooties.

Jo pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at his retreat. She wasn't a detective for nothing.

It didn't even take much effort to discover Lucas Wahl's secret. There was a film festival in the Village, all right, and he was the director of one of the horror submissions. At first Jo was annoyed that he didn't tell her or invite her so she could support him, but she decided she didn't need his permission to do that.

She was going to the film festival to watch low budget horror flicks instead of playing hockey.

* * *

On Saturday Jo went to the film festival dressed more softly than she did when she was on duty. She was only really interested in Lucas's film, so she sat down in an optimal seat and waited for it to start. Other people filled the space around her, and the lights went down except for a spot in front of the screen.

Lucas walked out in jeans and a corduroy jacket to introduce his film. He appeared a little nervous speaking to the crowd. He said his film was about a killer in the morgue with two detectives who helped solve the crime with the help of medical examiners who were used to handling the dead bodies.

"All the great artists say to take inspiration from what is around you, so I tried to rely on my own experiences," he said with a bow to the audience before his film started.

The slasher film had thinly veiled allusions to her, Hanson and Henry. It was also… not very good. She slid down in her seat and covered her face due to second-hand embarrassment. Horror films were definitely not her thing. She felt sorry for Lucas because he was obviously passionate about them. It was a shame to care this much and be this bad doing it.

The film was blessedly short, and there was a question and answer session afterward. He spoke with great interest and conviction about the film he had made. He mentioned his hours writing, story boarding and editing the film. The reactions of those around her made Jo realize she had been wrong about Lucas and his film. While she personally did not enjoy it, he had made a movie that horror fans would enjoy.

The question and answer session was short so people could move on to other films that were screening in the festival. Several left to go see a different film, and a few others went to the front to speak to Lucas personally.

Jo waited to be the last to talk to him. She thought back to her production of _My Fair Lady_. She'd enjoyed the support of her family and friends who came to see her, perhaps more than they ever realized. She would do no less for Lucas.

Because of her mind had wandered, she missed Lucas speaking to her. "Jo, what are you doing here?"

It took her a moment to collect her thoughts and find her voice. "I came to see your film. It was something! I think I need a consultant credit for the character Jenny."

Lucas blushed. "You were definitely her inspiration. She's the kickass one who survives to the end. Did you _like_ the movie, Jo?"

She sighed, "I'm sorry. It's not what I normally watch, but the others seemed to like it. I'm really proud of you for getting your film in the festival, but annoyed you didn't tell me about it. It's a pretty big deal."

Lucas shrugged off the compliment. "I've done film things before and invited people, but no one seemed to care. So I decided I wouldn't mention it this time."

"That's not like you, Lucas. You never give up when you want something," she said before she put her hand on his arm. "Come on. I'll buy the director a drink, and we can celebrate."

* * *

Once they got their drinks, they sat down at a bistro table near the refreshment vendors.

"To you, Lucas!" Jo saluted with her glass.

After they finished their toast, she asked him, "What do you like about horror?"

"I've always liked it, and there are rules about it. It's not all about the scare. It makes you think," he said.

Jo put her hand on his and squeezed it proudly. "I thought you were great. In fact, there have been a few times lately I thought you were great."

"There were?" He sat up straighter as he considered that.

"Yes, I think I li… Oh, crap. It's Mike," she said with a sigh at her cell phone. "I have to take this."

Jo apologized and got up from the table to speak to her partner. Unfortunately, Mike's news was just as she had anticipated. They had a case to take, so Jo had to leave.

"Should I go with you? Do you need an ME?" he asked sweetly, changing gears.

"No," she said after a moment. "You stay here and get your glory. We'll let Dr. Washington work on the case."

"I'll see you at work," he said in parting.

* * *

Jo didn't see Lucas at work. In fact, she didn't see him until Saturday when they were once again at the hockey rink. She warmed up with a few laps around the ice, and he glided up beside her as if he'd always been there.

"Busy week, huh?" he asked with his long legs pumping against the ice. Even with the protective gear, he had a lithe look about him.

"Yes, it has been. Listen, I want to talk to you about something, okay? I started to tell you last week, but we got interrupted by the case," she said.

"No problemo," he said. "After the game, though, right?"

"Yes," Jo said as she skated over to her starting position to play.

Though she usually enjoyed all aspects of the game, Jo was too distracted to play well. Her team lost, and she was very disheartened by the end of the session. She just wanted to forget about the whole debacle.

Lucas waited for her on the ice as if he expected their talk to be out on the rink instead of some place personal and private. Jo started to skate away from him but stopped after a few strides. She liked him, and it didn't matter that he was sometimes weird and awkward. He might have kissed her once over drinks at her place, but she was going to turn the tables in the best way she knew how. Pure brute force.

Jo skated back to Lucas and used all the pent up aggression from losing the game and skated hard against him until he was pinned against the boards.

"What did…? Why?" he asked in confusion as well as pain. Jo knew how to body check someone, and she didn't mess around.

Using her stick and body to keep him pinned, Jo said, "Do you know that for several weeks now I have been spending my weekends with you and only you? Do you know that my partner thinks we're dating?"

"We're not," Lucas said defensively.

"No, but maybe we should be," Jo replied. "You kissed me, Lucas. Weeks ago. You kissed me."

"Yeah, and I apologized for it!" he said.

"I don't want you to apologize. I want you to do it again," she growled in frustration, tempted to beat him with her stick.

Lucas looked at her agape. "You want me to kiss you?"

"Yes. Often and in interesting places," she said menacingly. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No," he breathed. "I'd love to kiss you in interesting places. To clarify, you do mean interesting places on your body, right? You have a heart-shaped freckle on your ankle. That's an interesting place. I might be able to find more."

It was Jo's turn to be surprised. "I might let you."

Lucas nodded seriously. "I could do it easier if you let me up."

She skated back away from him a few paces, and he took off his protective head gear. He looked sweaty like he'd just played a game of hockey of all things. Jo took off her helmet, and she wiped her dark hair away from her face as she looked at Lucas.

He skated closer to her and rested his hand at her back. Then he kissed her on the ice, and it was a wonder the both of them managed to stay upright. Unlike the first time when it had been a surprise, Jo was fully invested and kissing him right back. She could feel it from the top of her head all the way down to the toes of her skating boots.

"Get off the ice, or you'll melt it!" one of their teammates heckled at them.

The two stopped kissing, but looked at each other with goofy gazes of pleasure.

"We probably should hit the shower. But after that, you can come back to my place if you want. I might show you my ankle again," Jo said with a laugh.

"That might be dangerous. Ankles are the gateways to legs and… things," he said with hand gestures to her lower body.

Jo nodded solemnly as she skated off the ice. "Yes, that's true. If you're a good kisser, I might let you put your lips on my legs. And things."

Lucas lifted his eyebrows and settled into a pleased expression. "Things are some of my favorite things ever!"

Jo shook her head and laughed that she had been reduced to geek flirting. She took Lucas's hand and said, "Let's go."


End file.
